Good bacon will shine in these recipes. But if you can get only the cheaper stuff, blanch it first (cover it in water, bring to a boil, remove from the heat, spoon off the white scum and drain), before frying with it. This process means the liquid added during a wet cure won't leach out into the frying pan, causing a sticky mess. You will lose some flavour, but then cheap bacon is rather thin and disappointing anyway.

Beet bacon buns

Good for burgers, or flattened into baps, or just as one big tin loaf for beetroot BLTs. Though the beetroot helps the texture stay soft, keep the baking time short, because the crumb will continue cooking for a few minutes once it's out of the oven and you don't want them drying out. Makes about nine.

Fry the bacon until slightly crisp, drain on kitchen paper and cool. Grate the beetroot into a bowl (use rubber gloves to make it less messy), then stir in the water, yeast, vinegar, oil, dill and bacon. Add the flours and salt, mix to a smooth dough, cover and leave for 10-20 minutes. Oil a patch of worktop, scoop the dough on to it and knead lightly for 10 seconds. Return the dough to the bowl and leave for about 90 minutes, until puffed and slightly risen.

For buns or baps, split the dough into 150g pieces – you should have enough to make nine – and, using a little flour, shape into balls (round for buns, oval for baps). Leave, covered, on the worktop for 10 minutes, then lightly flatten with a rolling pin and place on baking trays lined with nonstick paper. For sandwich bread, liberally brush the inside of a loaf tin with bacon fat or oil (or line it with nonstick paper), pat the dough out into a rectangle, roll it up tightly like a scroll and squeeze seam-side down into the tin.

Cover and leave for 60-90 minutes, until risen by at least half. Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan-assisted)/425F/gas mark 7, dust dough with flour or brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with poppy seeds, and bake for 20-25 minutes for buns and 40 for the tin loaf, until golden (if you're making the loaf, reduce the heat towards the end if it's colouring too quickly). Leave to cool out of the tin, or off the tray, on a wire rack.

Bacon and cheese breadsticks

Fry the bacon in a dry pan until crisp and golden, then leave it to drain on a paper towel until cold. Shred with a knife and chop finely, then put in a mixing bowl with the butter. Boil the milk, pour this over the butter and bacon, stir and leave until barely warm. Add the yeast – remember, if the milk's too hot, it will kill the yeast – then the flour, cheese and salt, and mix to a soft dough, adding a dash of water if needed. Cover the bowl and leave for an hour. There's no need to knead this dough – just roll it out into a rectangle about 1.5cm thick, then cut into 1cm strips. Using your hands, roll these into long, pencil-thick rods and place on trays lined with nonstick baking paper. Heat the oven to 170C (150C fan-assisted)/335F/gas mark 3, and bake for 30-40 minutes, until crisp and golden.